So David, a friend of a friend of mine here in Thailand – who has become a great friend to all of us helping us find a place to live and work and navigating us around Chiang Mai – hooked Jeremiah and I up with a job at the YMCA. We were counselors for a weekend-long English World Camp. Thirteen and 14-yr-old Thai kids have an INSANE amount of energy.. and are “awesome!”

Brown bag lunches may be a fixture of Americana but we’ve got a lot to learn from the Italians on the art of the gourmet bag lunch. In Arezzo I was packed five mind-blowing meals to take to my job as a teacher. The only indication that they weren’t from a nearby restaurant was the Tupperware.

The size of our Tuscan childrens’ lunch bags should have tipped us off that we’re in for something big. And we were: Proscuitto with melon, fresh mozzarella and vine-ripened tomatoes, farro salad, and zucchini stuffed with meat and cheese. Thanks Host Mom, Giulia!!

the gourmet Italian brown bag

zucchini stuffed with meat and cheese

Prosiutto and Melon

Fresh Mozzarella & Pomodorini with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Salt

Kidding.

Kind of.

The hunt is on for a job in Quito. After applying for a mysterious Magician’s Assistant post found under Quito’s Craigslist, I sat back and tried to work some mental magic and will the magician to respond. Laurene and Freddie have both gotten jobs teaching English, but try as I might, I couldn’t motivate myself to apply for teaching jobs. We recently met a bartender who had partied with Guns N Roses when they played in Quito recently, and I had seen some places who were hiring bartenders. Except I don’t know how to tend bar. Right.

Rabbits out of hats, Getting sawed in half = I'm in!

My day had started out pretty good- I slept until noon since I have become an insomniac since living here (along with half of our apartment) and have trouble falling asleep before 2 or 3am. My recent obsession has been researching shamans in the Amazon and contemplating going to live in the jungle to learn from them. Other than that, I had lunch with a new friend who took me to a local hotspot for wealthy Quitenos and we feasted on the Ecuadorian version of sushi. Things were looking up.

I’d been dragging my heels about going to Laurene’s school to meet her boss – a position opened up at her school to teach some evening classes at $4/hr. But for whatever reason, the thought of teaching for a few bucks an hour made me cringe, even though it would actually be enough to live on.

What really made me hesitate was imagining spending another two full months in Quito, choking on the pollution and constantly watching my back. But I bit the bullet and went looking for Laurene’s school at dusk, couldn’t find it because it was so far, and felt the whole time like I was going to get mugged. I hated the feeling of having to be hyper aware and suspicious of everyone that passed me. It started to sprinkle – naturally – so I finally called her and she gave me directions. But after a few more minutes, I just gave up and decided to retrace my steps back to the apartment.

I had walked farther than I thought and it was now dark. Walking alone in the dark is a big no-no here. I made my way to the grocery store near our apartment and spent $7 on ingredients to bake a chocolate cake, which I had been craving ever since Laurene made one for Freddie’s birthday. Spending seven dollars bummed me out even more though, since that’s the equivalent of 4 meals here and I clearly don’t have a source of income at this point.

After wandering fruitlessly in the dark, glaring at every stranger who passed with a “Don’t Mug Me” stare, and spending money I don’t have to make a cake, I couldn’t get my apartment key to work in the gate because it takes both hands and an intermediate level of coordination. Plus the overhead light is on a sensor and turns off after 3 seconds, so I’m fumbling with my key in the pitch black darkness with my arms full of eggs and groceries, cursing my non-luck. The key wasn’t cooperating and I couldn’t see anything so I was trying to picture the lock in my mind’s eye and mentally beseech it to open. Again my mental magic wasn’t working and I stood there in the dark struggling for several minutes.

The light that leaves you in the dark

It all kind of added up to one of those screaming-into-the-pillow moments. In fact I did consider screaming just to make myself feel better, but then I figured my neighbors would likely think I was being mugged, so I swallowed my angst. It occurred to me to be annoyed that I hadn’t bought more ice cream but since I had finished my last tub of ice cream within 2 days, I was trying to wait until next week to buy a new one. I eat grilled cheese sandwiches every single day (sometimes twice a day), put butter on everything I eat without fail, and eat ice cream by the tub, so it’s only a matter of time before I balloon.

I made the cake disappear!

The upside is that maybe the magician – if he ever calls – will teach me how to make the would-be muggers, exhaust-spewing buses, and extra pounds vanish into thin air.

Perrin and Sarah in action

Orientation began today so our schedule just got more intense, Courts and I are returning tutors having met doing this job before but it’s all new to the Baileys. Courts and I help run the orientation while the girls are on information overload in order to go to camp at the weekend! Where?? We have no idea and that’s what makes the adrenaline pump! It’s going to be a hardcore week of tuning our singing voice and brushing up on playing games while learning the ACLE methodology.

The ACLE Activity Book

Courts and I will be sleeping in the same place tonight for the first time since we got to Italy as it has been non- stop, however we will be room hopping again tomorrow! Musical Beds in order to be the proud owners of WI-FI.

Lynne and Courtney Circa 2007 - Cirie, Italy

Moving to a different country without a clearly defined plan is definitely the way to go, with one major exception: finding employment. On the job front, doing a little research before you leave can pay off BIG TIME.  It did for team Italy!

As of next week all four of us will be teaching English to Italian children at English immersion summer camps throughout Italy with a non-profit organization called ACLE.

JOB FACTS:

• I found ACLE through a Google search in 2007 and it was my ticket out of my corporate job.
• Lynne and I met in Italy working for this very same program three years ago. Our Jet Set Zero experience will be a reunion of epic proportions.
• Sarah and Perrin are ACLE newbies.  Hazing rituals likely.
• ACLE has an important mission: To prove that the “traditional Italian scholastic system of “chalk and talk” fails to stimulate the emotions and energy that an entertaining atmosphere can provide.
• Instead of  lectures and boring workbook lessons, we’ll be teaching English through songs, theater, art, games, sports and multi-cultural activities.
• ACLE + Italy = one delicious summer.

A lot more on our sweet summer job soon, but for now check out these excellent sites to begin YOUR international job search:

Jobs Abroad
Teach Abroad
National Association of International Educators (NAFSA)
Craigslist (Search Europe/International Jobs)
Dave’s ESL Cafe
Expat-Blog (read success stories and get tips from other expats)

My GE5 class!

]]> http://jetsetzero.tv/2009/11/23/teachers-day-yay/feed/ 0 http://jetsetzero.tv/2009/11/15/my-first-day-of-school/ http://jetsetzero.tv/2009/11/15/my-first-day-of-school/#comments Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:30:20 +0000 Kris http://www.jetsetzero.tv/2009/11/15/my-first-day-of-school/ In less than two weeks of our arrival, I found myself standing in front of Vietnamese students in a well-respected Saigon language centre. My job hunt had been fairly straightforward – a combination of luck, skill, preparation and networking landed me at the very school that the Jet Set boys taught at one year ago (an amazing coincidence if you consider how many schools there are here).

I was incredibly nervous for my first day of instruction.  The reason for my anxiety is that I have never taught English before, and there’s not much I hate more that going into something totally unprepared with the chance of me looking like a total idiot.  I have never put together a lesson plan and it’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve had to deal with gerunds, infinitives, present perfect forms, etc., let alone have to explain them to students who are non-Native English speakers.  I looked through the material and had an evening to listen to the audio materials before I stood in front of the students.

I should mention that at this point, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have landed at the Cleverlearn Language Centre.  I have heard horror stories about giant classes (50+), a lack of any kind of discernible curriculum, and the rarity of tools such as textbooks and whiteboard markers (teachers often need to provide these themselves).    At the centre where I work, it is organized, air-conditioned, with small classes, and they provide everything you could need including supplemental tools such as audio recordings and DVD’s. There’s even a teacher’s resource centre with computers, photocopiers, supplies and an administrative staff to assist you.

But back to my first day.  My first class I had to teach is GE5, which is the highest level of English that they offer at the centre.  On the plus side, the students have a good foundation of the language already, but on the down side, the instruction is very technical, which means I really have to do my homework in order to bluff my way through it.  It’s a three hour class, and much to my surprise it flew by.  I even enjoyed myself once I got into the flow of things.  This was not expected – I had previously taught music to kids and hated it, but I think the difference now is that they don’t have instruments to honk at me, and they are adults who are paying to improve their English.  They are there because they want to be.

My main problem with the teaching is that because I haven’t done this before, I don’t have the experience to know the activities that break up the instruction.  I have been playing them songs and giving them a sheet of incomplete lyrics for them to fill in as they listen.  I have them play charades with new vocabulary words.  Anyone can lead a student through a textbook, but I am trying to make it fun and exciting for them (time will tell whether or not I succeed).  Sadly, I’ve heard of many teachers who could care less whether or not the students actually learn anything, but I simply cannot take that approach, no matter how brief my time here will be.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you”.  Well, I’m doing just that.  I started with one class, the GE5 level, and immediately  after my first class I was given two more classes of differing levels.  Which means I’ll be trying to keep my cool more often than I’m used to.  But if my first day was any indication, it looks like I’m going to love it.